Family Member’s Dogs Killed Johnson County Man, Sheriff Says

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Family Member’s Dogs Killed Johnson County Man, Sheriff Says

JOHNSON COUNTY (KFSM) – The Coal Hill man found dead in the woods near his home earlier this month died from “canine injuries” from a family member’s dogs, according to newly-revealed autopsy results.

Fredrick Crutchfield, 63, was found dead Feb. 4 by a family member. Investigators sent his body to the Arkansas State Crime Lab to determine a cause of death. An autopsy revealed Crutchfield died from loss of blood due to “multiple canine injuries,” according to a statement released by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on Friday (Feb. 20).

Deputies said the dogs involved in the death belonged to a family member. The animals have since been impounded, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

On average in 2014 someone was killed by a pit bull every 13 days. Some of these pit bull attacks were from the family dog that was well trained and had never shown signs of aggression before. The only common in these severe and often fatal attacks is not abuse or lack of training it is breed. Choose the breed of dog you trust the lives of your loved ones with wisely.

In addition to the 2-3 monthly deaths by pits, there are maulings everyday, sometimes three. Three quarters of these are stopped only by firearm intervention, otherwise they would add to the fatality stats. Tens of thousands of pets are killed annually by pits also; the numbers of maulings to great to know.

“There is no direct eye contact or very little direct eye contact. It is very quick and over with. Which is one reason why with pit bulls and rottweilers, we have problems. Because they’re bred to do direct eye contact and so they are off putting to other dogs and actually scary to other dogs.”

The fourth undesirable characteristic – arousal or excitement – is actually the most problematic. Many bully dogs cannot seem to calm themselves down once they get excited. And once they get excited all their behaviors are exacerbated.

Thus, if a dog is over-confident and has a tendency to body slam or mount, he or she will really crash into the other dog or person when he’s aroused, sometimes inadvertently causing injury. He may begin to play-bite, and then bite harder and harder and harder.

When you try to stop the behavior, the dog often becomes even more “aggressive.” In this way, play can turn into aggression fairly quickly. Research on the brain has shown that excited play has exactly the same chemistry as extreme anger. This allows a play behavior to switch quickly into aggression. And, once the dog has become aggressive a few times, the switch is much easier.
HORSWELL BB, CHAHINE CJ, oral surgeons

Dog bites of the facial region are increasing in children according to the Center for Disease Control. To evaluate the epidemiology of such injuries in our medical provider region, we undertook a retrospective review of those children treated for facial, head and neck dog bite wounds at a level 1 trauma center.

Most dog bites occurred in or near the home by an animal known to the child/family. Most injuries were soft tissue related, however more severe bites and injuries were observed in attacks from the pit-bull and Rottweiler breeds.

Younger (under five years) children sustained more of the injuries requiring medical treatment. Injury Severity Scales were determined as well as victim and payer mix demographics, type and characteristics of injury, and complications from the attack.

DR RICHARD SATTIN, chief of unintentional-injuries section of the Centers of Disease Control

We’re trying to focus public attention on this greatly underestimated public hazard.

In 1979, pit bulls accounted for 20 percent of fatal attacks by dogs. That figure had risen to 62 percent by 1988.

Nobody knows the dog population of the United States or the exact breakdown by breed. We do not believe that pit bulls represent anywhere near 42% percent of dogs in the United States. Therefore, we believe that the pit bull excess in deaths is real and growing.

ROBERT D. NEWMAN, M.D.

As a pediatrician I was disturbed to read Vicki Hearne’s assertion that there are no bad breeds, just bad dogs (Op-Ed, April 15). There is ample evidence to suggest that certain breeds of dogs are more dangerous to children than others.

From 1979 to 1994, there were 177 known dog-bite-related fatalities in the United States. Of these fatalities, 66 percent were caused by five breeds: pit bull, Rottweiler, shepherd, husky and malamute.

If you include crosses among these five breeds, that number rises to 82 percent. Other breeds, like Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers were not implicated in a single fatality during this same period.

I laud the American Kennel Club’s attempt to include information about dog breeds considered ”not good with children” in the coming edition of ”The Complete Dog Book,” and lament the fact that the book is being recalled at the request of some breeders.

Pit bull attacks are typically the most severe, and in about one-third of all attacks, the animals are family pets or belong to close friends.

That should be the message, that these dogs should not be around children, adults are just as likely to be victims.

Everyone should be extremely cautious.

DR. MICHAEL FEALY

When a Pit Bull is involved the bites are worse. When they bite, they bite and lock and they don’t let go… they bite lock and they rip and they don’t let go.

DR. CHRISTOPHER DEMAS

Bites from pit bulls inflict much more damage, multiple deep bites and ripping of flesh and are unlike any other domestic animal I’ve encountered. Their bites are devastating – close to what a wildcat or shark would do.

DR. AMY WANDEL, plastic surgeon

I see just as many dog bites from dogs that are not pit bulls as bites from pit bulls. The big difference is pit bulls are known to grab onto something and keep holding so their damage they create is worse than other breeds.

DR. PATRICK BYRNE, Johns Hopkins Hospital

I can’t think of a single injury of this nature that was incurred by any other species other than a pit bull or a rottweiler.

ANDREW FENTON, M.D.

As a practicing emergency physician, I have witnessed countless dog bites. Invariably, the most vicious and brutal attacks I have seen have been from the pit bull breed.

Many of the victims have been children. In a recent study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, pit bull attacks accounted for more ER visits than all other breeds combined.

In young children, the most common part of the body injured was the face. Numerous studies have proven that the number-one cause of dog bite fatalities is the pit bull breed.

I am certain that many attacks are due to owner negligence, but the fact remains that many were unpredictable and were perpetrated by formerly “loving and loyal” pets.

Dr. Chagnon has every right to leave our town as she claims she will if pit bulls are banned, just like every one of her patients has the right not to attend her clinic where she brings her pit bulls.

I applaud Mayor Pro Tem Joanne Sanders for bringing this issue to the forefront. In the interest of public safety, I recommend we enforce a spay/neuter requirement on pit bulls while reviewing and revamping all of our policies relating to animal bites.

In North America, from 1982-2013, Pit Bull breeds and mixes have seriously attacked 2,990 humans that resulted in 1,777 maimings and 275 deaths.

The bullmastiff is a Pit bull type dog with the same genetic makeup and danger of a pit bull.

The Bullmastiff was a cross of 40% Old English Bulldog or pit bull type dog and 60% English Mastiff

In North America, from 1982-2013, Bullmastiffs have been responsible for 105 serious attacks on humans, resulting in 61 maimings and 15 deaths.
In North America from 1982-2013, Rottweilers were responsible for 514 attacks on humans, resulting in 81 deaths.

Rottweiler mixes were responsible for 30 attacks on humans, resulting in 4 deaths
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The following is a list of the top 10 dog breeds involved in dog attacks in the U.S. and Canada involving humans from September 1982 to December 31, 2013, based on a larger table compiled by Merritt Clifton, former editor of Animal People, an animal rights charity/news group. Clifton now is the editor of Animals 24-7.

A Bullmastiff is considered a pit bull type dog and a pit bull mix between a pit bull and a mastiff and is 40% pit bull.

The report states that the numbers are compiled from press accounts dating to 1982. It only includes attacks by dogs of clearly identified breed type or ancestry, as designated by animal control officers or others with evident expertise, which have been kept as pets.

All accounts are cross-checked by date, location and identity of the victim, according to the report.
Attacks by police dogs, guard dogs and dogs trained specifically to fight are not included in the report.
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About 31,400 dogs attacked about 61,500 other animals in the U.S. in 2013, killing 43,500 and seriously injuring 18,100.

The animals killed included about 12,000 dogs, 8,000 cats, 6,000 hooved animals, and 17,000 other small domestic animals, primarily poultry.
The seriously injured included about 12,400 dogs, 4,000 cats, and 1,700 hooved animals. Few small mammals and poultry survived reported dog attacks.

Pit bulls inflicted 99% of the total fatal attacks on other animals (43,000); 96% of the fatal attacks on other dogs (11,520); 95% of the fatal attacks on livestock (5,700) and on small mammals and poultry (16,150); and 94% of the fatal attacks on cats (11,280).

About 30,000 pit bulls were involved in attacks on other animals, many of them killing multiple other animals.
There are about 3.2 million pit bulls in the U.S. at any given time, according to the annual Animal24-7 surveys of dogs offered for sale or adoption via online classified ads.

Thus in 2013 about one pit bull in 107 killed or seriously injured another animal, compared with about one dog in 50,000 of other breeds.
Nationally, fatal and disfiguring attacks by dogs from shelters and rescues have exploded from zero in the first 90 years of the 20th century to 80 since 2010, including 58 by pit bulls, along with 22 fatal & disfiguring attacks by other shelter dogs, mostly Rottweilers & bull mastiffs.

Altogether, 33 U.S. shelter dogs have participated in killing people since 2010, including 24 pit bulls, seven bull mastiffs, and two Rottweilers.
The only dogs rehomed from U.S. shelters to kill anyone before 2000 were two wolf hybrids, rehomed in 1988 and 1989, respectively.
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Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to May.25, 2013.
By compiling U.S. and Canadian press accounts between 1982 and 2013, Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, shows the breeds most responsible for serious injury and death.

Study highlights
Pit bull type dogs make up only 6% of all dogs in the USA.
The combination of Pit Bulls, rottweilers, their close mixes and wolf hybrids and other Pit Bull Type Dogs:

84% of attacks that induce bodily harm.

75% of attacks to children.

87% of attack to adults.

72% of attacks that result in fatalities.

80% that result in maiming
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Merritt Clifton Editor Of Animals24-7:

I have logged fatal & disfiguring dog attacks in the U.S. and Canada since September 1982.

Of the 5,206 dogs involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks on humans occurring in the U.S. & Canada since September 1982, when I began logging the data, 3,588 (68%) were pit bulls; 567 were Rottweilers; 4,439 (85%) were of related molosser breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, mastiffs, bull mastiffs, boxers, and their mixes.

Of the 577 human fatalities, 305 were killed by pit bulls; 89 were killed by Rottweilers; 438 (75%) were killed by molosser breeds.

Of the 3,141 people who were disfigured, 2,232 (68%) were disfigured by pit bulls; 354 were disfigured by Rottweilers; 2,716 (84%) were disfigured by molosser breeds.

Pit bulls–exclusive of their use in dogfighting–also inflict more than 70 times as many fatal and disfiguring injuries on other pets and livestock as on humans, a pattern unique to the pit bull class.

Fatal and disfiguring attacks by dogs from shelters and rescues have exploded from zero in the first 90 years of the 20th century to 80 in the past four years, including 58 by pit bulls, along with 22 fatal & disfiguring attacks by other shelter dogs, mostly Rottweilers & bull mastiffs.

The only dogs rehomed from U.S. shelters to kill anyone, ever, before 2000 were two wolf hybrids in 1988 and 1989. 33 U.S. shelter dogs & one U.K. shelter dog have participated in killing people since 2010, including 24 pit bulls, seven bull mastiffs, and two Rottweilers.

Surveys of dogs offered for sale or adoption indicate that pit bulls and pit mixes are together less than 7% of the U.S. dog population; molosser breeds, all combined, are 9%.

In July 2010, Police Chief Jim Clark said there had been no recorded pit bull attacks since the city’s 2003 pit bull ban. Between 1989 and 2003, the city had a pit bull ordinance, but still allowed pit bulls as “guard” dogs.
“Police Chief Jim Clark says since the ban, there have been no recorded attacks by the animals.

“We haven’t had any attacks since then for one thing because it is illegal,” said Clark. “Most people are keeping their dogs inside their house or inside their basement and not letting them out loose so therefore they’re not around other people to attack them.”

“In the two-and-a-half years before the 2003 ban, Ottumwa police recorded 18 pit bull attacks, including the death of 21-month-old Charlee Shepherd in August 2002. There were at least three other attacks on children during this time.”
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Little Rock, Arkansas
Population 189,515

When the City of Indianapolis was discussing a pit bull sterilization law in April 2009, Little Rock Animal Services Director Tracy Roark spoke about Little Rock’s successful 2008 pit bull ordinance:

“There was a day when you could walk down any street in center city Little Rock, you could see several pit bulls chained up. You don’t see that anymore,” said Tracy Roark with Little Rock Animal Services.

Roark told Eyewitness News over the phone that pit bull attacks have been cut in half and credits their new law with getting them there.
“This is the most abused dog in the city,” said Roark.

The Little Rock law passed last year and requires pit bulls to be sterilized, registered and microchipped. Also dogs – regardless of the breed – are also not allowed to be chained up outside.”
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Fort Lupton, Colorado
Population 6,787
When the City of Fort Collins was mulling a pit bull law in March 2009, Fort Lupton’s Police Chief spoke about Fort Lupton’s successful 2003 pit bull ban, including zero pit bull biting incidents since the law’s adoption:

“Fort Lupton Police Chief Ron Grannis said the city hasn’t had a pit bull bite since the ban was enacted, but it still has the occasional pit bull that is picked up and taken away.

Although he said the ban has not been well-received by every resident, he thinks it was the right decision for the city.

“I believe it makes the community safer,” he said. “That’s my personal opinion. Pit bulls are not the kind of dogs most people should have. They are too unpredictable. … These dogs have been bred for thousands of years to be fighters.

You can’t take it out of them. A lion cub may be friendly for a while, but one day it can take your head off.”
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Reading, Pennsylvania
Population 80,560

After an 8-year legal battle, pit bull advocates dismantled a pit bull law adopted by Reading in 1998. It was reported in the same news article, in February 2008, that the law had significantly reduced biting incidents:

“Reading’s 1998 law required that aggressive or dangerous dogs, when outside the home, be muzzled and kept on a leash shorter than three feet long with a minimum tensile strength of 300 pounds.

The law also punished violators with fines of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail.
The law is credited with helping to reduce dog bites from 130 in 1999 to 33 in 2006. As a result, the law – or at least elements of it – were not being actively enforced, the Reading Eagle reported last year.

Pit bulls are not only problematic in large cities; they threaten mid-sized cities and small towns as well. Located in the heartland, Council Bluffs, Iowa has about 60,000 citizens.
After a series of devastating attacks, beginning in 2003, Council Bluffs joined over 600 U.S. cities and began regulating pit bulls.

The results of the Council Bluffs pit bull ban, which began January 1, 2005, show the positive effects such legislation can have on public safety in just a few years time:1.
Council Bluffs: Pit Bull Bite Statistics.

Year Pit Bull Bites % of All Bites.
2004 29 23%.
2005 12 10% (year ban enacted).
2006 6 4%.
2007 2 2%.
2008 0 0%.
2009 0 0%.
2010 1 1%.
2011 0 0%.
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From the CDC (1998 report, page 4):
“Despite these limitations and concerns
(about identifying the exact ‘breed’ of pit bull type dog responsible for a
killing), the data indicate that Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs accounted
for 67% of human DBRF in the United States between 1997 and 1998.
It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for anywhere near 60% of dogs in the
United States during that same period and, thus, there appears to be a
breed-specific problem with fatalities.”
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In June 2013, after a Bay Area child was killed by a family pit bull, San Francisco Animal Care and Control cited the decrease in pit bull bites and euthanasia since the adoption of a 2005 pit bull law.

After 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish was fatally mauled by his family’s pit bulls, the city adopted a mandatory spay-neuter law for the breed. The reasoning was that fixed dogs tend to be calmer and better socialized.

Since then, San Francisco has impounded 14 percent fewer pit bulls and euthanized 29 percent fewer – which is a “significant decrease,” said Rebecca Katz, director of the city’s Animal Care and Control department.

Another significant indicator, she said, is that there have been 28 pit bull bites reported in the past three years – and 1,229 bites by other breeds during the same period. In the three-year period before that, there were 45 pit bull bites and 907 incidents involving other breeds.

Results of mandatory breed-specific S/N in SF: success in San Francisco, where in just eight years there was a 49% decline in the number of pit-bulls impounded, a 23% decline in the number of pit-bulls euthanized, and an 81% decline in the number of pit-bulls involved in fatal and disfiguring attacks.
When the City of Auburn debated enacting a pit bull law in January 2010, Sgt. Bill Herndon of the San Francisco Police Department weighed in about the success of San Francisco’s 2005 pit bull law:

“Since requiring all pit bulls to be neutered, they say they are finding fewer pit bulls involved in biting incidents.

Sgt. Bill Herndon, of the San Francisco Police Department’s vicious dog unit, said the numbers and severity of pit bull attacks are down since San Francisco enacted an ordinance in 2005 after the mauling death of 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish.

“The number of complaints of mean pit bulls has dropped dramatically,” Herndon said.
San Francisco’s animal control department reports more than 30 percent fewer pit bulls at the shelter or being euthanized.”
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Ed Boks, Executive director, Yavapai Humane Society (responsible Jan 2004 as director City Center for Animal Care & Control in NYC for trying to rename pit bulls New Yorkies; is pb owner)

Pit bull type dogs represent 3000% the actuarial risk compared to other types of dogs.
Insurance companies will have calculated the risks the other listed breeds represent based on what they’ve had to pay out through the years.

This isn’t ‘prejudice’, this is cold statistical reality. Actuarial realities don’t yield to sentiment or a feeling of entitlement — they just are what they are
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Doctors at University Hospital Respond
In 2011, the Annals of Surgery published a critical peer-reviewed scientific study pertaining to severe and fatal pit bull injuries (Mortality, Mauling and Maiming by Vicious Dogs, by John K. Bini, et al.), authored by doctors at San Antonio University Hospital.
In the landmark 2012 Tracey v. Solesky decision, which declared pit bulls “inherently dangerous,” the highest court in Maryland cited the entire abstract of this study. The conclusions by the University Hospital doctors:

pit bull Conclusions: Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs. Strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the US mortality rates related to dog bites.

The majority of the San Antonio Express-News article pertains to this study and a rehearsed rehashing of the 30-year old pit bull debate.
One of the primary authors of the study, Dr. Stephen Cohn, is interviewed in the article. “We’ve had people that have almost lost their legs just going out for a run,”
said Dr. Stephen Cohn, a professor of surgery at the Health Science Center.
“This is a complete hazard for all of us.”

RUFFRUFF

Sarah

A different neighbor tells the hidden truth, dogs were pit bulls. Too bad this news article suppresses the truth. You can run but you can’t hide, the truth will find you out. The evidence against these dogs is mounting Trish and you cannot defend a lie.

FedUp

Trisha, do you know how old the dogs were? Some dogs do get untrustworthy as they get older. It doesn’t matter what breed they were their personalities seem to change in some dogs. I know someone that had to get rid of a large dog because she became sneaky and vicious as she got older. she was a big baby all of her life. Not sure if it was a stroke or something else that affected her brain but she changed.

This is the most pitiful example of a news article that I have ever had the displeasure to read. Who? What? When? Where? If possible, why? Get someone else to write this piece and try again. MASSIVE FAIL.

RUFFRUFF

Are you seriously damning a bunch of people, actual real live human beings, to hell because you love your pitbull and they don’t and have their own educated opinions? Typical and predictable Pit nutter attitude.

With the plethora of dog attacks/killings/maulings that have happened within Arkansas in the past few years I will NEVER set foot in that State – you truly are taking your life in your own hands. Maybe a severe drop in the rate of tourism (and the flow of money into State coffers) will be what it takes to finally make legislators take notice of this “domestic terrorism” and pass some laws/regulations that are in the best interests of HUMANS….

meg

Why does everyone assume pit bull? No breed has been mentioned. Instead of bashing a breed of dog you are only familiar with by reading a Stat and have no personal experience with, try giving your condolences to the family for the horrific and tragic loss. Regardless of the breed of the dog(s), a good man lost his life… the entire breed, whatever it may be, is not at fault for that.